Theory and Practices of Hacking

Running head: THEORIES AND PRACTICES OF HACKING
Theories and Practices of Hacking
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THEORIES AND PRACTICES OF HACKING1
Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Discussion:.......................................................................................................................................3
Historical Development of Hacking:...........................................................................................3
Prevalence of Hacking:................................................................................................................4
Theories and Hacking:.................................................................................................................6
Importance of Hacking:...............................................................................................................8
Victims and offenders of Hacking:..............................................................................................8
Policy Brief of Hacking for the Australian Government:............................................................9
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................9
References:....................................................................................................................................11

THEORIES AND PRACTICES OF HACKING2
Introduction:
Hacking is defined as the intrusion if unauthorized action into computers and their
associated networks. The occurrence of any malicious activities is also termed as hacking as it
involves unusual alteration of processes and equipment related to technological systems (Gunkel
2018). In order to understand better about the phenomenon of hacking, it is important to
understand the main individual that remains behind the process that is the hackers. Hackers are
some highly skilled, intelligent beings who are aware of each and every hacking activity that are
done within computer systems while breaking the security of the systems in a very expertise
manner. There are three types of hackers namely the white hat hacker, the grey hat hackers and
the black hat hackers. Hackers have their own intensions in the process behind hacking and they
have their necessary skills in order to accomplish in their mission. At one end of the spectrum,
the white hat hackers are those who are involved with ethical hacking against the black hat
people while the black hat people are those who are involved with unethical hacking trying to
steal credential information of users and use them for their own interest. There are several
theories present with the concept of hacking and this report discusses about the different theories
that goes with the hacking behavior of the criminals and their prevalent practices in the modern
world.
Discussion:
Historical Development of Hacking:
The concept of hacking all began in the year 1960s. The concept of hacking originated
from the term hacker that involved extreme skill and practices of programming in FORTRAN or

THEORIES AND PRACTICES OF HACKING3
in any other languages. Hackers always have the ability to retain, absorb while exerting vast
quantity of knowledge regarding intricate details. Previously hackers were usually referred to as
people who used to lock themselves in rooms while programming non-stop through hours (Hood
and Littlejohn 2018). At the beginning of hacking the concept was not given as much importance
as now. The very first incident of hacking started in the year 1878 with the startup of the phone
company known as Bell Telephone. The hacking incident included a group of teenage boys who
were hired in order to run the switchboards while disconnecting the calls and misdirecting them.
The first authentic hacking came up in the year 1960s when the mainframe computers were
locked away in areas with controlled temperature and glass areas. After this the first major
hacking came up in the year 1971and was carried out by one of Vietnam vet known as John
Draper. With his hacking skill, he discovered ways to make free phone calls and this type of
hacking later came to be known as Phreking. After these events, in the year 1980s hacking
reached to its peak of seriousness as huge number of computers started to emerge with its fully
loaded components like CPU, software, storage systems and many more. In Milwaukee a
talented pool of hackers known as the 414 broke into systems ranging from the Los Alamos
Laboratories to Manhattan’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This was known as the
Great Hacker War however the situation got so much bad that the Fed’s put a stop to it and with
this the era came to an end. In modern world, various other malicious attacks were launched that
became prominent in the business of all kinds.
Prevalence of Hacking:
Modern era is growing up with the advancement of technology. Business sectors are
growing up gradually in the field of computers and other telecommunication equipment making
individuals more dependent on the computers and their associated networks in order to carry out